Launched on a Japanese H-II rocket and destined for a 800-
kilometer (497-mile) high circular orbit above the Earth, ADEOS
is due to begin day-to-day science operations in November.

The JPL-built NASA Scatterometer will make 190,000
measurements per day of the speed and direction of winds within
about 3 centimeters (1.5 inches) of the ocean surface. These
winds directly affect the turbulent exchanges of heat, moisture
and greenhouse gases between the atmosphere and the ocean. These
air-sea exchanges, in turn, help determine regional weather
patterns and shape global climate.

NSCAT has been developed under NASA's strategic enterprise
called Mission to Planet Earth, a comprehensive research effort
to study Earth's land, oceans, atmosphere, ice and life as an
interrelated system. JPL manages the NSCAT instrument for NASA.